Christmas card and tag.

 For my NZ swap group this month, my friend, Suna, set us a challenge - make an unusual card and add a tag!

My unusual element on this is using some fabric - some calico, that I had used some 49th and Market rub-ons to decorate.  I embossed a panel with snow flakes and added to my white card.   

And here it is with the tag I made

I made this tag with an Altenew stamp and die set.  Too cute!

I have been ultra busy with the family here.   Chaotic at times... but loving the hugs from my two little grandsons and also my two granddaughters who have been around lots as well!  Managed to find a little time tonight to share this. 

Here are the four of them.... keeping me on my toes for sure!

Craft Roulette #238

 I watched the replay of the latest Craft Roulette and was really finding it daunting.   Overnight an idea came to me.... Santa in a pair of shorts....   yeap had my big girl pants on to stretch that parameter!

Here is my 25th submission:

This one is a slightly bigger card - 1.5" x 6.5"  Not sure I totally nailed the Project parameter.   It's a bit more mixed media than collage - but there is torn paper, paper piecing, stamp, rub ons, stenciling.  

Smooshed some Festive Berries Distress ink on the a white card base, blended some DO in Vintage Photo around the edge.   Added the stripe of torn paper and then went to town with rub ons. stamping, and made the diagonal lines with the stencil and Slippy When Wet Lunar paste. My splatters were added with a stamp - much more precise placement!   Stamped Simon Says Stamp Santa and coloured him with red and white (to mimic the checked tablecloths in an Italian restaurant)  Used my big girl pants to stretch the Element parameter here! He is also wearing a quintessential NZ black tee shirt!   I paper pieced the cabbage tree (A NZ native tree) and added with Santa to my panel. 

Had great fun with this one.  Nice messy fingers! 

After I had submitted this one to the challenge... I remembered I had some 49th and Market Postage Stamp Washi stickers and thought they would make a great collage... so here's my bonus card. 

 So project - Collage ✔  Colour- Italian Restuarant - reds and greens ✔ Element - Short.  One stamp was the short version of Christmas -Xmas ✔ and Random - diagonal lines - blue and red airmail stripes around the edge. ✔

Wish I thought of this first!

Craft Fair fun and lots of cards....

Yesterday my friend, Suna and I headed to a Craft Fair - FYI - For your inspiration.  It's held at Lake Karapiro in the Waikato area.  About 2 hours south of Auckland.   A long drive, but we always stop about half way for breakfast.  We left around 7.30 and with stops to pick up some lunch, for breakfast  and top up of petrol and we made it by 10.30.   We talked all the way down.  My GPS - took me a different way and we drove over the Dam - never been that way before.   

We spent a few hours looking around the stalls... spending most of my money at Krafter's Cart stall.... got some lovely goodies - and saw the Lisa Horton Interference inks being demo'ed.  Suna ended up buying three colours.  I managed to get some Andy Skinner stamps.... been eyeing them up for some time. 

On our way home we made a stop to visit our friend, Carol.  She lives about 20 mins from where the craft fair was.   We had a lovely catch up and she gave us some goodies as she is destashing. 

Here is my haul...

I got a new pick up tool - it has 4 replacement wax tips - and a pokey tool at one end.   

Today was busy with catching up with the chores from yesterday and doing the ironing this afternoon.  But managed to grab a couple of hours in the craft room and got a few projects done

First one used one of the Creative Expressions/Andy Skinner stamps I got.  This one is "Let Your Dreams Take Flight"  I made an NZ A5 sized panel - used two Distress Oxide inks (Vintage Photo and Lost Shadow) and two Distress Inks (Weathered Wood and Picked Raspberry) smooshed on a piece of acetate and added to the panel.  I die cut a piece with a Gina K Master Layouts 1 die and did the mat in dark pink.  Stamped the image onto the panel and the sentiment onto some scrap card and fussy cut it. 

My next card was a bit of mixed media.

I used the other part of the panel I made.  I stamped a La Blanche silicon stamp - Bird's Nest (thanks Carol) in some Toffee Crunch Memento ink.  Added a Kaisercraft stamp - rose and scripty one- stamped parts of it randomly over the background in some dark grey ink.   Added some 49th & Market rub-ons and washi tape stickers purchased yesterday.

Next one was using the Waffle Flower - Layered Poinsettia stencil I also purchased.   

It's a lovely duo stencil.   I did the poinsettia in soft greens and added the leaves, centre and the other little bits with Lunar Paste in Minty Fresh.  I cut it the same size as my card base.   I added a sentiment from Concord & 9th - Big on Christmas.  Love how it turned out.   

In fact I also made another panel with the stencil 

This time in red and silver with a touch of gold paste for the flower centres.   

Thanks for coming by today and if you made to here... I appreciate it. 

Craft Roulette #189

Recently my friend Suna started following Craft Roulette and I've seen my friend Arlene entering... so over the weekend I watched Episode #189 and today I made a quick card.   I am too late to submit it to the challenge, but still sharing it as I really loved what I made. 

Cathy Zeilske was the guest and it was her card that inspired me.  The wheel spun the following 

Project - Guest's choice - Cathy chose A2 for the base

Colour - Forest colours

Element - starting with "H" 

Random - Postage stamp or mark.

Here's what I came up with, inspired by Cathy's use of the Waffle Flower's Postage Collage Die

 I have used an A2 card base -top folding, the colours of my 49th & Market rub-ons are greens and browns of the forest, the little hearts and the hugs postmark and used the Postage Collage die and the postmarks are the random element.   

I added the rub-on first to white card and the die cut it.   Love this arty rub-ons.  I stamped the sending hugs, postal lines and the little hearts from the Waffle Flower Postage Collage stamp set.   I added the die cut panel with dimensional tape. Love the look of white on white. 

Entering this into the Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Die cuts challenge

Retro Christmas....

 Hi there.  I've got three cards to share today... all using the same theme of "Retro Christmas"  

I picked up a Retro Santa die from my local stationery store.   It was a freebie from a 2021 magazine - they were selling it for $3.99.  

Yesterday I snuck into my craft room and did the die cutting.   I tracked down the magazine and issue number and downloaded the free papers and sentiment toppers.  I CASE'd a square card on the web site. 

I started by printing the three papers I wanted and the sheet of sentiments. Then trimmed the papers to fit a 5" square card. I die cut the frame from Gina K Master Layouts #12 and some American Crafts glitter paper.  I used the same die to cut out the centre from the stiped paper.  I cut out the hat for Santa from red glitter paper and the fur around the hat, the eyebrows, beard and mustache from white card.  The face was cut from an off white card and I added a little pink Copic for the checks and a little fawn for his nose and mouth.  Used green and red glitter to add the Holly and Berries to his hat.  The sentiment was printed and trimmed and layered with red card.

My next two cards use some of the papers I printed and both use some rub-ons from 49th and Market's 2023 Christmas Spectacular Classic rub-ons.  

First one is another Santa 

s

I trimmed the printed paper with Gina K Master Layouts #1 and it's layer die in red.  I took some white card and used the Santa rub-on and then used some Spellbinders Nestibilities ovals and scallop ovals dies.  The sentiment was from the rub-ons as well.   A few red gems finished this one.   

and the third one used a Poinsettia rub-on

Again used the printed paper and some off white card to add the Poinsettia and the sentiment rub-ones.  A few gold pearls from Pinkfresh Studios.  A quick card using these gorgeous rub-ons.  

Tomorrow is another day off for me... It's a national holiday here in NZ to celebrate Labour Day - which commemorates when the 8 hour working day was legislated over 100 years ago.   A sleep in day for me... and then some crafting!   Plus booking my flights to Perth for April next year!

Hope you had a crafty weekend.